ABSTRACT
Mohamed was a political refugee from an African country. Mohamed began therapy three months following release from prison and immediately upon arrival in Oslo, after being referred by the local non-governmental refugee agency, as they found his condition alarmingly severe. The therapy was conducted in English. He missed only a few sessions, sometimes coming even if he felt ill. The psychotherapy was psychoanalytic, and he was instructed to express himself as freely as possible by saying what was on his mind. This psychotherapy ended with a re-evocation of trauma in a phase of crisis. The main psychic residues of massive psychic trauma are overwhelming affects, especially a mixture of anxiety and depression. Individuals who experienced excessive impingements during early years are more vulnerable to intrusion experiences when they suffer psychic trauma. For some youngsters, excessive abandonment fears result in increased vulnerability to subsequent psychic trauma, and these also increase the psychic trauma.
